Jonathan Fast (born April 13, 1948) is an American author and social work teacher.

Life and career

Fast was born in New York City. He attended Princeton University, and earned graduate degrees at Columbia University and Yeshiva University. He has a daughter, Molly Jong-Fast, from his first marriage, to author Erica Jong, and two sons from his marriage to Barbara Fast, a Unitarian minister. Fast's nonfiction book, Ceremonial Violence: A Psychological Explanation of School Shootings (2008), analyzes five school shootings from a psychological perspective: Cleveland Elementary School shooting (San Diego), the Columbine High School massacre, the 1992 Bard College at Simon's Rock shooting, the 1997 Bethel Regional High School shooting, and the 1997 Pearl High School shooting. , Fast was a professor of social work at the Wurzweiler School of Social Work at Yeshiva University. His father, Howard Fast (1914–2003), was the author of many best-selling novels, including Spartacus (1951), which became the basis for the 1960 film of the same name.

Publications